State Gaming Commission To Award License For Western Massachusetts Next Spring

PALMER, Mass. — Voters narrowly defeated Mohegan Sun's $1 billion casino proposal on Tuesday, at least for the moment leaving the MGM Resorts International plan for downtown Springfield as the sole survivor in a contest to operate a casino in western Massachusetts.

Complete unofficial results from the town clerk's office shortly after 9 p.m. showed the proposal losing by 93 votes, 2,657 to 2,564.

The Mohegans said afterward that there were "very troubling" technical problems with one voting machine and that they were asking for a hand count of ballots.

It was not immediately clear if there would be one.

The 5,221 vote total meant that 66 percent of the town's 8,412 registered voters filled out ballots.

At Mohegan Sun headquarters in town, the tone was somber. Mitchell Etess, CEO of Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, addressed supporters from a podium.

"We are obviously disappointed in today's outcome as it currently stands. Our supporters and volunteers have worked tirelessly for our vision of bringing real economic development to Palmer. The results from today's vote are extremely close — less than 100 votes. And the incredibly strong turnout is indicative of how engaged people on both sides of the issue have become," he said in a transcript released by the tribe.

"Because of technical problems with the voting machine in Precinct 2 that are very troubling, we will be asking the Town of Palmer for a hand recount of the ballots in today's election. We have great respect for the process and all of the voters in Palmer, and we believe this request is consistent with ensuring that the process of counting ballots was accurate."

Jen Baruffaldi, a supporter, said she hoped that a recount would reverse the outcome. If not, she remained optimistic that a casino would eventually come to Palmer. In 1997, a nonbinding referendum to support casinos in Palmer passed 55 percent to 44 percent, although plans to build one never came to fruition.

Charlotte Burns, co-president of Quaboag Valley Against Casinos, celebrated the victory against Mohegan with about a dozen other people in a tiny storefront adorned with a sign proclaiming: "Save our town. Vote No Nov. 5."

"I just always thought there was a silent majority that was afraid to speak up or wasn't speaking up," Burns said.

She said that casinos are "economic vacuum cleaners. Their product is addictive slot machines."

Springfield voters approved a plan for a downtown casino earlier this year. In September, West Springfield defeated plans for a Hard Rock casino near the Big E fairgrounds.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will award a license next spring, and construction could start soon afterward. A casino is expected to open in 2016.

The western Massachusetts casino will be one of three regional resort casinos that the state will allow as a result of legislation passed in 2011. The others are in Greater Boston and in southeastern Massachusetts.

A casino proposal for Suffolk Downs in Greater Boston was also defeated Tuesday. But Chip Tuttle, Suffolk Downs' chief operating officer, noted that the town of Revere supported the project even though East Boston did not, and said they would "reassess" their plans accordingly.

The Mohegans planned to spend $1 billion to build the resort casino, which would have included an indoor water park, two hotels, retail shops and restaurants. The tribe said that the project would have created 3,100 permanent full-time jobs; more than 2,000 construction jobs while it was under construction; and an additional 2,000 indirect jobs.

Supporters in the town of 12,140 rallied around Mohegan as an answer to unemployment, empty storefronts and a sluggish economy in an aging mill town that has lost manufacturing jobs over the course of decades.

Opponents said that a casino would usher in new problems, such as problem gambling and crime, while people in the region spent their hard-earned discretionary income on roulette, black jack and slot machines.

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority opened its flagship Mohegan Sun casino 17 years ago in Uncasville, Conn., and the tribe has been expanding to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington.

Palmer is less than 20 miles east of Springfield on the Massachusetts Turnpike. The casino had been planned for a site off Exit 8 of I-90, the Mass. Pike.